Cavaliers Cricket Club, Colchester, Essex, England

8 November 2010

Our annual end of season awards dinner was held at the Red Lion on the High Steet once again. Despite a couple of mix-ups we enjoyed a successful evening, entertained by the now traditional Mayhew comedy routine.

29 September 2010

19 September 2010

Cavaliers won the toss and elected to bat first having drafted Alex W in at the last minute and still waiting for Amir to arrive from London. Little did we know that Gosfield were waiting the arrival of 4 players and would have to field for 10 overs with just 5 out fielders.

18 September 2010

The First XI started a weekend of games with a visit to second placed Purleigh who needed a win to secure promotion themselves as well as the satisfaction of stealing a victory over the league champs. Unfortunately the two games stretched our resources to the limit and we fielded a side containing just 10 men including only three first XI regulars. Purleigh won the toss and elected to bat first with a 40 over game being agreed.

12 September 2010

At the Marks Tey met up for the visit to Great Totham all the talk was about points, averages and our place in the league table after the defeat at Colchester last week. A few nerves were evident about securing promotion and the league title.

5 September 2010

The Cavaliers 2nd XI recorded their 3rd straight PDQ Div 4 victory* on Sunday with a 28 run win Away to bottom side Wormingford.

With the home side's skipper unable to conduct the toss (bat and indeed see) Vinnie still managed to lose it and thus the visitors were asked to bat first on what looked to be a very (very) tired and slow wicket.

1 September 2010

Although Cavaliers First XI are almost certain to gain promotion as league champions there was a determination to continue our winning streak with revenge for defeats by Colchester last season. However it was not to be as history repeated itself and we lost, narrowly in the end, in a low scoring match at Castle Park.

27 August 2010

Ray Smith struck an excellent, unbeaten 54 to rescue the First XI in a close fought encounter with Great Bentley. Together with Danny they put on close to a century partnership before Danny was controversially given out caught behind, leaving 20 runs to get and just 2 wickets in hand. With the last pair at the wicket Ray continue to play his shots and the approach paid dividends as a flurry of boundaries took us past the respectable Bentley total of 182.

15 August 2010

The Cavaliers juggernaut trucked on one step closer to the target of winning Division 2 with another convincing 7 wicket win, this weeks victims being Tendring. The bowlers did the damage early on and kept up the pressure throughout the innings to limit the visitors to 103 all out and Danny played a solid innings to surpass the total with great assistance from Mr Wides.

Stuart bowled a very tidy spell of swing bowling taking his customary two top order wickets conceding just 6 runs from 7 overs. Robbie at the other end was also miserly but unlucky not to get past the batsman's defence or have the ball drop into the hands of a fielder. Danny and Ray kept up the pressure with Dan uprooting the stumps twice in consecutive deliveries and then trapping the stubborn Flood LBW in slightly bizarre circumstances with it being unclear what decision the umpire had given. The final bowling pair of Darren and Dave shared in the success with a two wickets each before JJ was thrown the ball in an effort to prize out the final wicket. After a great first delivery JJ tested out the middle of the wicket a few times before knocking back the middle stump.

With a modest target to chase Danny set out to anchor the innings punishing anything short of a length including an enormous six into Mill Road. Although Ben, Luke and JJ were unable to make the most of their chance Darren hung around to see us home in the 22nd over.

The season now enters the final phase with probably the toughest challenges ahead away at Bentley, Purleigh and Colchester but the team's playing well with everyone contributing and confidence high.

10 August 2010

The first XI increased their winning streak in Division 2 to 11 games (club record?) by avenging a sour defeat in the corresponding fixture last season. With our Spy well and truly deep in the Colchester and East Essex midst’s, it was known beforehand that out task was made considerably easier due to lack of availability from our opponents, sadly resulting in our second XI without a fixture.Stuarts job as ‘Stand In Captain’ was made easier as he lost the toss and C & EE with no hesitation deciding to bat, bit of an ‘Ricky Ponting’ moment (re Edgbaston 2005). So in bowling friendly conditions Stuart and Robbie set about the Colchester and East Essex openers, to say the pitch was offering assistance would be an understatement but you still have to put it in the right areas and that’s exactly what these two seasoned Cavaliers did. After 7 overs, the scoreboard stood at 2-1. Robbie finishing his spell with impressive figure of 7-5-6-2.His first victim is one that will live long in the memory, it was one of those moments when everybody stood still to take in what actually happened, then there was an massive eruption of euphoria and joy! It’s was a case on you had to be there but Wolski’s wicket keeping hit a new high with an amazing one handed diving catch to his right! Absolutely stunning stuff!A small partnership then built for the visitors but the run rate was never out of control, all Cavaliers bowlers contributed with very economical figures, Darren bowling his most fluent spell of the season and narrowly missing out on a well deserved hat trick, and Harish and Ben (aka Bob Willis) also picking up an wicket each. Even a couple of run outs, courtesy of Harish and Petty Officer Jack Kneeshaw which helped our cause, but it’s has to be said that the fielding was occasionally brilliant, then depressing awful at times, something that will need to improve next season.A target of 95 was never going to be a problem with the strength of batting we have, and newly promoted opener Harish (43*) and second XI skipper Vinter (29) put on 60 for the 1st wicket, and the total of 96 was accomplished in the 23rd over with Ben Moore hitting the winning runs.With our nearest competitors in the league both losing the finishing line is coming closer.

26 July 2010

Cavaliers First XI reached the half way point in their season undefeated but a 68 run victory over Great Braxted & Tiptree wasn't as easy as the winning margin might suggest.

Both teams were keen to bowl first on a grassy wicket that looked under prepared and Tiptree skipper Hale was the lucky one at the toss. Justin opened up fluently with some fine shots all around the wicket but Simon was struggling to score against long serving GB&T openers Turner and Hill. Justin took a number of painful blows to the hands from balls rearing from a length but Simon was first to go checking his attempted drive to a diving cover. Justin soon followed caught behind, Ben was unlucky to be caught down the leg side after looking good and Robbie fell to a top edge slash and a great catch. Suddenly Cavaliers were in big trouble and hoping that the long batting order could make a competitive total. Sure enough Jack was well supported by Stuart, JJ and Darren as he made light work of the conditions on his was to 75, with the tail wagging strongly the total pushed way beyond what had seemed likely only minutes earlier.

At tea GB&T seemed confident that a target of 196 was within their reach while Cavaliers were only too familiar with home conditions and how difficult it could be to score from accurate bowling. Stuart took about an over to knock the rust off after a six week injury lay off bowling 10 overs straight and taking 4 top order wickets. Robbie bowled well from the other end without any luck. GB&T were well behind the run rate at drinks but Hill was playing some big shots including a massive six that cleared the hedge into Mill Road and there still seemed to be danger while opener Hummerstone was unbeaten. Dave lured Hill into an attempt to clear long on but Jack just failed to come in quickly enough to hold the catch but fortunately it was not too costly as Darren bowled him with a snorter in the next over.

After that is was one-way traffic as Hummerstone went into his shell against tight bowling from Darren, Dave and Harish each collecting valuable wickets and Ben joined the party to dismiss the final batsman.

Another great team effort from the Cavaliers to recover to set a decent target and then bowl and field well to exert pressure on the visitors.

25 July 2010

Oh dear. Cavaliers 2nd's returned to earth not merely with a bump but with something more resembling 7.5 on the Richter Scale as they were scuttled for just 67 by high flying Kirby.

Batting first the home side struggled from the off losing wickets in metronomic fashion with none of the Top 5 able to post a score in double figures (Luke failing to contribute altogether). Indeed only two batsmen were able to make it out of single digit territory namely Alex W (13) & Steve R (12) but it was all too little and too late both sides well aware the game was over before it had really begun.

Requiring just 68 off around 300 overs the Kirby openers made their intentions for an early finish quite clear. However, once again Alex W was quick to get a breaktrhough removing the dangerous Breame sparking hope in the field of an unlikely victory. Unfortunately Wilson (G) batting at No3 soon settled the Kirby ship as he began to dismantle the attack safe in the knowledge that his stay need not be a long one. The home side were neither able to stem the flow of runs nor capitalise on the risk taking though Tony M did ensure neither opener made it to the end as he removed Abbot (13) - Kirby reaching their target in just 11 overs.

Special mention for Steve B who was unfortunate not to have a total to defend, his 6 over spell was certainly worthy of a wicket or two.

Keen to put right a few of the days wrongs a number of the seconds proceeded to take part in a post match practice, however, the only thing that seemed to improve was the sledging... indeed Pete's dismissal of Sean will have done little to help the latter's confidence ... the less said of Alex W dropping his brother in the deep the better!

18 July 2010

On a day when the weather could once again only be described as "Scorchio" the 2nd's maintained their winning ways with a 21 run home victory over fellow PDQ Div 4 strugglers Wormingford at the Rugby Club.

12 July 2010

With the home side positioned as our nearest rivals in Division 2 it this fixture seemed likely to be a hard fought affair but Boxted had a few key players missing and the Cavaliers depth was the difference between the sides.

On a scorching hot day Simon elected to bat first despite being tempted to make use of the new ball and asked Robbie to open the batting with Justin unavailable and Jack working his way back into form. While Sexton was bowling well at one end the Boxted skipper was suffering at the other consistently going for a couple of boundaries in each over. Despite being in little trouble and scoring at a healthy 5 runs per over the Cavaliers somehow conspired to lose regular wickets with Simon prodding to gully and Danny mistiming a pull and falling to a ridiculously brilliant one handed catch. Jack showed that he had benefited from time in the middle for the Second XI last week before falling to his strength / weakness at point. When Robbie fell shortly after making a half century combining aggression and caution, the innings was in some trouble at 114-4 but Stuart, carrying an injury, was making the most of his opportunity as a specialist batsman . Going on to make an unbeaten 86, his highest ever score for the Cavaliers, Stu held the innings together with good support from Darren and the rest of the tail.

A total of 230 looked healthy but by no means unassailable and the Boxted openers also managed to maintain a run rate of 5 an over against the pace of Danny and Robbie who both bowled good lines. The turning point of the innings came with the introduction of Dave H who bowled good flight with accuracy and took all four of the top order batsmen but while the healthy run rate was being maintained the result wasn't certain. The Cavaliers could finally relax once skipper Pearce fell as Darren joined the fun by ripping out the next three batsmen. Phil added three victims to his 2010 collection to 'silence' his critics. ;-)

A great victory now leaves the Cavaliers with an advantage of three victories over nearest rivals Purleigh and Boxted in the push for promotion.

11 July 2010

The Cavaliers' 2nd XI finally returned to winning ways recording a comprehensive 114 run return victory at home to Boxted 2nd's. On a day where the pitch promised to be "interesting" batting first was imperative and Vinnie for perhaps the first time in living memory (?) actually won the toss. Thankfully he elected to bat and with the visitors one short and lacking a few (batting) faces from the previous encounter it was felt that a solid if not spectacular score would prove too much for the visitors to chase down.

29 June 2010

It wasn't a game for the Cricketing purists but Cavaliers maintained their position as the top of the table with a 10 wicket win over bottom of the table Gt Totham. With minds distracted by the potential of another glorious world cup win, Totham opened to batting and their positive intentions were apparent. After some early boundaries Cavaliers manged to remove danger man Powell, as a sharp lifter from Ray Smith caught the advancing batsman out and Phil Wolski took a smart stumping. Regular Wickets and runs was the order of the day, with Ray and Darren Dellar collecting 3 wickets each, adding to already impressive wicket tallies this season. Tothams 10 men eventually mustered 125 due to sharp fielding, no catches dropped and Danny Skinner producing a splendid throw to Run Out one of the middle order batsmen. The momentum was with us and the Cavaliers openers of Gilhooly and Rishworth continued their good form this season with an unbroken stand of 129, Gilhooly 67no and Rishworth 46no. No game for the 1st team this weekend due to their cup exit but the second team have a great opportunity to return to winning ways as they visit Eight Ash Green. Special mention to Martin Vinter who lead like a true captain and produced a superlative personal best of 115no. On a day when England once again depressed the masses this was undoubtedly the highlight. Congratulations!

27 June 2010

The 2nd XI losing streak continued with a home defeat at the hands of North Springfield (PDQ Div 4) in a fixture brought forward to Noon and reduced to 40 overs-a-side so as to accommodate "Fat Frank and co." at 3pm.

20 June 2010

Per the First XI Sunday proved to be a case of history repeating itself alas for the 2nd XI it was a virtually identical performance to that against Chappel as they succumbed to consecutive 100+ run defeats - this time at the hands of Division 4's El Galaticos (aka Stebbing).

Cavaliers First XI repeated the victory over Ardleigh in the first match of the season with the game taking a very similar pattern. Once again Cavaliers batted well to compose a strong total of 237 although we were bowled out in the 44th over this time around and we then knocked the visitors over for 94. In the earlier game we made 230-3 with Ardleigh dismissed for 65 in return.

Phil W was unable to repeat his successful opening from last week but Simon & Danny laid the platform with a stand of 113; Danny going to make a majestic 91, Simon falling to Bob Barrel (again) for a scrappy 41. Robbie and JJ made very useful quick runs to secure the big total.

Robbie continued his form from last week opening the attack with an excelled spell without taking any scalps and was supported by Harish who took the valuable wicket of Joe Bland thanks to a remarkable catch by Danny in the covers. Ray replaced Harish and took advantage of the pressure coming from the other end as he bagged yet another 5 wicket haul deceiving the batsmen by appealing at random. Dan S and Dave mopped up the tail.

This match was also notable for being the first occasion for the club to use the new club house.

14 June 2010

On an historic day for the club with the new Pavilion opening, the first team put in a performance to match the occasion. After a delayed start to proceedings, due to traffic problems the game was reduced to 40 overs, Cavaliers won the toss and elected to bowl first. With only 10 men due to a communication mix up, it was more important the ever that the new ball was used to maximum potential and runs were not generouslyconceded. Stand in skipper Stuart Johnson opening the bowling with Robbie Mitchell promoted to open the other end. The combination worked perfectly as the Purleigh batmen struggled with the in swing of Johnson and the out swing of Mitchell. The pressure finally paid off in the fifth over as Stuart produced a double wicket maiden to put the visitors in the mire. However fears of reoccurring injury came true and his spell had to come to an unfortunate end. Mitchell continued bowling beautifully the other end and Dan Smith came into the fray. Wickets and runs we proving hard to come by but as soon as the Purleigh batmen started to find their straps, Darren Dellar managed to find the batman's top edge and Mitchell took a fine catch. Wickets then tumbled at regular intervals with Dave Howell, the new golden arm of the team, consistently getting the batman to play aerially and Mitchell snapped up a further 3 catches. Dellar returned at the end of the innings to wrap this up in the 38th over, Purleigh mustering an under par 152. This innings was also of note, as debutant HarishKumar, took his first Cavaliers wicket and in the process, regularly bruising Wolski's palms, which always raises a smile with the onlooking fielders. So after a lovely, kindly donated tea from Tony Mayhew, Cavaliers with 2 additional overs set about their task. The new opening partnership of Jack Kneeshaw and Phil Wolski has some promising early running, but as the bowlers start to find their lenghts, a small amount of scoreboard pressure was building. The rusty Kneeshaw was the first wicket to fall, bringing Danny Skinner to the crease. Boundaries were in short supply, but the score was ticking along and Wolski reminding us all that his a talented number 11. After he departed for a respectable 24, both opening bowlers were then bowled out, bringing on Purleighs second string attack. Danny now with his eye firmly in, started to score more frequently and a big individual score was once again on the cards. Alex Corcos help build a good partnership and the match was quickly swinging Cavaliers way. After the departure of Corcos, the fireworks started, Danny Skinner scoring 50 with a lovely four through extra cover, and Dan Smith happy to swing away at the other end. Soon victory was in sight after Skinner took apart the bowling with two imperious 6's in consecative balls and the win was achieved with 7 wickets in hand. It was overall a very good performance against the team second in the table with 10 men.

13 June 2010

On a momentous day off the field for the Cavaliers the 2nd XI were unable to produce anything of any quality on it as they fell to an abysmal 111 run defeat at the hands of Chappel & Wakes Colne 2nd's at the Rugby Club (PDQ Div 4).

The huge Mersea total was definitely helped by some generous fielding by the Cavaliers, with opener Rutter dropped several times on his way to 77 and the ground fielding poor although some allowance must be made for the poor outfield.

The bowling came under a degree of pressure that we're probably not used to facing in Division 2 but these games serve as a good learning experience. We can now concentrate on the league.

25 May 2010

On the hottest day of the year so far, Cavaliers we are able to go about their business the way they know how, after winning the toss and option to bat first in the sweltering conditions the run rate start to tick over very quickly. Simon Gilhooly continuing from his hundred against Great Bentley last month was in fine fettle, punishing good and bad bowling to all corners and one particular over being brutally smashed for 4 fours. The batsmen at the other end were happy to farm Simon the strike and his 50 was soon on the board. However he was not finished, boundary after boundary followed by a massive 6 over long off, and three figures was for the taking once more. Eventually he fell for 117 after a smart piece of wicket keeping, but the lower order had a great platform of 150 with 13 over left and 8 wickets in hand. Jon Rawlings took up the mantle with a dynamic 36 not out to post an intimidating score of 235 for 5 of 45 Overs. After a tiresome session in the field, Gosfield were out to make inroads into the Cavaliers total, but the innings was derailed before it even got going. Stuart Johnson taking 3 wickets in the first 3 overs, leaving the visitors staring down the barrel at 0-3. Ray Smith was at his immaculate best the other end frustrating batsmen and the scoreboard pressure starting to show, after the top edge dismissal of Dicker by Ray, wickets continued to fall. Debutant Dave Howell showing us his skills by taking 3 late order wickets. Once again the team bowling was economical with extras a rarity these days. So 3 wins out of 3 and other sides losing around us has given early advantage to Cavaliers, but the season is long and the performances need to be maintained. No PDQ games next week as Cavaliers are on Tour.

With the match all set up for a great finish the rain arrived and ruined things. Boxted had started brightly with Rich Sexton smashing any straight deliveries over mid-wicket. A big total looked likely with a strong batting order but Cavaliers fought back taking wickets steadily and preventing any acceleration in the final 10 overs. Danny bowled brilliantly without luck and Tony tantilised the batsmen returning to his form of last season. A total of 182 all out was probably a disappointment for the visitors.

Peter J took a few blows opening the batting with Simon but his stumps were in less danger than his body and Cavaliers were 29 without loss in the 8th over when the rain arrived allowing everyone to disappear to the pub to watch England thrash the Aussies in the T20 final.

11 May 2010

The weather was foul; wet and cold but the Cavaliers were hungry for cricket after the mysterious cancellation by Tendring and the rained off Cup tie so with a positive forecast Phil, Robbie and Simon set about erecting Phil's tent to serve as makeshift pavilion. It was great to have both teams sharing a common home, something to look forward to when the new pavilion is complete.

The Bentley players seemed somewhat surprised at prospect of starting on time but were encouraged by winning the toss and asking Cavaliers to bat first. Jack and Simon opened up against the Fowler brothers determined to set a good platform and were pleasantly surprised that the bounce of the wicket was true and didn't pose too many problems. A slow first five overs was an acceptable price for holding wickets in hand and before long the runs started to flow. The curse of Jack's parents struck once again as he fell trying to drive a slow delivery shortly before his guests arrived but Danny and Simon set about attacking the change bowlers and the run rate was soon rattling along, Burbridge and Fowler Snr suffering the most. Simon clocked up his hundred well before the end but fell trying in vain to push the score along as the opening bowlers returned. Danny closed just short of a half-century having selflessly concentrated on feeding the strike to Simon. A total of 208 was well beyond expectations at the start of the innings.

The Bentley reply started with a family affair, Rod Fowler becoming Stuart's first victim bowled with a typical inswinger. The young Fowlers attempted to run the Cavaliers ragged but time and runs were on our side and it was not long before impatience got the better and both fell in quick succession. A flurry of wickets, mostly to Ray who ended with 5-25, was broken by a late rally but the result was never in much doubt.

9 May 2010

It would appear there have been some complaints about the length of the match reports so, for Tony Mayhew...the Second XI won. For those who want to know more please read on!

The Seconds began their home campaign with Abberton as the opponents. After a loss to Stebbing and a match lost to the poor weather a win was vital. Abberton came to Mill Road with a perfect record having beaten Kirby scoring 200+ in the process.

8 May 2010

The Cavaliers midweek team started their campaign in the top flight with a defeat at the hands of Town Police. Town Police recording 134 with 3 convictions, whilst the new recruits mustered 107 for 8. Tony Mayhew was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, not surprising as he always was a mystery to the law and the highlights of the batting was Sean top 'score' of 30, Stuart with 28 and Jon Rawlings 23 (without a boundary, very strange).All in all, a game played in the right spirit, with everybody getting to play a part.

2 May 2010

Robbie and Tony were successful in hitting the stumps as Cavaliers settled the traditional cup tie against Braintree College with a 2-0 bowl out victory. The poor weather ruled out any chance of a proper game and the busy fixture list gave little hope of organising an alternative date so, unsatisfactory though it may be, a bowl out was the only way to decide who progressed in the main cup competition and who went through to the plate.

26 April 2010

The Cavaliers 2nd XI could not have asked for a much tougher opening to their 2010 league campaign than a trip to Stebbing. With the visitors missing some notable regulars, playing their first game under new skipper (Vinter) and with three debutants in the line up (messrs. Smith, Clayton and Kearton) there surrounded the fixture a certain air of the unknown, this despite the heavy (heavy) defeats handed out to the visitors by the home side both home and away in 2009.

19 April 2010

Spurred on by confirmation of a new sponsorship deal with local company Property Book UK (http://www.propertybookuk.com/) Cavaliers started the new season with a convincing victory over an Ardleigh side dropping down after a tough season in Division 1.

Ardleigh were without key players such as Joe Bland while Cavaliers were nearly at full strength, including new signing Justin Rishworth, rejoining us from local rivals Boxted.

Cavaliers won the toss and were keen to take advantage of the light and the best of the dry pitch by batting first. The pitch being another of those where the sun sets directly behind the bowler in a late finish. Simon and Jack got a solid start but boundaries were rare due to the lush outfield and lack of pace and bounce. Approaching the half century stand Jack was stumped down the leg by a piece of quick thinking from Ardleigh keeper and skipper Kurt Lamont. Simon soon followed after an LBW / caught mix up. There followed a marvelous display of partnership building by Dan and Justin, both batsmen accelerating the scoring in the final 10 overs to pile on the scoreboard pressure with a total of 230-3.

Ardleigh opened with their big guns but Stuart and Darren penned them back bowling a great line, each picking up 1 wicket in 6 overs. Robbie cleaned up a brace of wickets with his pace, while Ray eased the rust by donating 6 runs to the Ardleigh cause before picking up where he left off last year with a triple wicket maiden. Tony and Kevin were also successful in claiming wickets as the home side collapsed to a meagre 65 all out.

4 April 2010

The quiz night on Saturday was a great success thanks to an entertaining quiz set and delivered by Tony with support from Darren on the music and the scoreboard. Robbie, Dan and Phil ran a profitable bar and Stuart and Jack pulled in a similar amount from the raffle. Thank you to everyone who donated prized for the raffle.

In total we made a profit of £401.32 towards our pavilion fund, which has now accumulated over £3,000.

A big thank you to all involved not least those that brought friends and family to support the cause.